Amavubi Afcon qualifier against Nigeria in jeopardy as Ferwafa expresses Ebola concerns

Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) has written to African football ruling body, CAF, raising concerns over the threat of Ebola in Nigeria.

Thursday, August 14, 2014
Amavubi defender Mbuyu Twite beats Nigeria striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni to the ball during a previous meeting between the two teams in 2012 in Kigali. (File photo)

Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) has written to African football ruling body, CAF, raising concerns over the threat of Ebola in Nigeria.

Amavubi is due to play the Super Eagles in Calabar on September 6 in Group A of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations-Morocco qualifiers.

The Secretary General of Rwanda Football Federation Olivier Mulindahabi said: "We wrote to the Confederation of African Football expressing our worries about the threat of Ebola in Nigeria and we are still waiting for the response.”

"We are waiting to see if they can change the game to a neutral venue, because the threat of is a big concern in that part of the continent,” he added.

So far there have been three confirmed deaths from Ebola in Nigeria, with all of the cases linked to the death of a Liberian visitor to Lagos on 25 July.

However, according to reports there are no Ebola concerns in Calabar, the venue for the match.

The other two teams in Group A alongside Nigeria and Rwanda are South Africa and Sudan.

The disease, ranked as the worst known outbreak, has now killed 1,013 people in four West African countries — Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria in recent months.

The World Health Organisation on Tuesday this week approved the use of untested drugs to combat Ebola virus hours after Miguel Pajares, a Spanish priest who was supplied with experimental medication, reportedly died of Ebola.

No proven cure or vaccine yet exists for the Ebola virus.

How the disease spreads

Ebola hemorrhagic fever is not an airborne disease.

Ebola, unlike airborne illnesses that can be easily transferred from respiratory droplets exposed from the mouth, is a highly contagious disease transmitted through contact with bodily fluids of an infected person.

It is characterized by fever, headache, joint and muscle pain, sore throat, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pains and bleeding from all body openings.

Manifestation of Ebola, according to health official begins abruptly with a sudden onset of an influenza-like stage characterized by general malaise, fever with chills, sore throat, severe headache, weakness, joint and muscle pain, and chest pain.